10 New Game Plus Features We Should've Started With

In theory, New Game Plus is a killer feature in modern games which encourages players to beast through the story a second time by both allowing them to carry items and skills over from their first run, and also offering up features unavailable during that initial go-around.

It's a neat way to keep players engaged in a game they might otherwise bounce off after the end credits roll, but sometimes the features gated behind New Game Plus are useful, even vital enough that they probably should've just been available from the jump.

Life is short, we're all time-poor, and there are far too many great games to play, so you can't really blame players for being a little irritated that these features were only made accessible on a second playthrough.

From basic quality-of-life settings to simple cosmetic options and even secret boss battles, many players would've loved to have these things available on their first run.

Considering how long some of these games are - especially the beefier RPGs on this list - you can't really blame folk for being a bit peeved about what they could only access on New Game Plus...

If any further proof was needed that Square Enix laughed at the thought of respecting players' time throughout the awesome-but-woefully-padded Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, here it is.

While exploring the game's semi-open world, you'll need to hold down the triangle button in order to individually hoover up useful items strewn throughout the environment.

In 2024 it seems maddening that any video game with so much Stuff to grab wouldn't simply let players auto-collect them by running in their general vicinity, and yet, ever a game to turn even the most basic interaction into a Senate hearing, in Rebirth of course you have to press a button to do it.

It's fine at first but becomes a tiresome interaction long before game's end, ensuring an already overcooked RPG is even longer than it needs to be.

And to add insult to injury, players who continue exploring the game world after beating the story will find an option in the Settings > Extra Settings menu allowing them to turn on "Materials Auto-Collection."

Now any materials you run past will be instantly teleported into your inventory, as the gods of gaming convenience intended. 

But why in all that's holy would Square Enix not simply make this the default option and spare us all a ton of cumulative time spent hammering triangle? Baffling.